28 February 2005

Multimap and Holmes Place Point the Way to Fitness and Well-being across Europe

Multimap, the leading European internet mapping company, today announced a deal with Holmes Place, the premium health club chain, which enables fitness enthusiasts to find their nearest gym simply by entering their postcode or town/city on www.holmesplace.com. In addition, Multimap's In-line map service has been rolled out for Holmes Place gyms across Austria, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.

Users of www.holmesplace.com looking for their nearest club simply enter their postcode to view a list of their five nearest clubs, in order of proximity to the location entered. Each entry gives distance from the location entered in miles, a brief description of the club, and icons representing the facilities and specialist classes available. Interactive maps with full zoom in/out and panning North, South, East, West capabilities are just a click away. For interactive maps of clubs in Austria, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland, users simply select the country of interest on www.holmesplace.com, and click on the “Directions” link on the club of interest.

Jeff Kelisky, CEO, Multimap, said, “Our ASP mapping services are ideal for multi-outlet operations across Europe that want to direct their customers to the most convenient outlet for their needs. Customer satisfaction and good will, as well as brand loyalty, increase as a result, with obvious revenue implications for our clients. Holmes Place serves as an excellent case in point, and we’re delighted to be working with such a customer-focused company.”

Gary Cook, Digital Marketing Manager for Holmes, commented, “Excellent customer service is at the heart of Holmes Place's business, and the usability and functionality of our website is a key part of this. We needed a mapping supplier that would combine high quality, content-rich images with high-volume capabilities. Multimap has the industry's most robust infrastructure, comprehensive coverage, and can handle huge surges in traffic without interruption. Customer response has been really positive and we've noted a marked increase in online traffic since the deployment."

About Multimap

Multimap is Europe’s leading provider of mapping and location-based services. The company delivers more online maps, point-to-point driving directions and geo-spatial ("where’s my nearest?") searches to more companies than any other supplier in Europe. All services are offered on WAP, PDA, kiosk, and interactive TV platforms and in multiple languages.

The public website, www.multimap.com, provides a range of free, useful services to assist with everyday life. Key features include street-level maps of Europe, USA, Canada and Australia; road maps of the world; door-to-door travel directions; aerial photographs; weather forecasts; links to location information; and services such as hotel, restaurant and entertainment booking. The public site attracts over 7.3 million unique users, registers more than 140 million page impressions every month, and is one of the top 10 most visited websites in the UK. Multimap recently featured in The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 league table of fastest-growing unquoted UK companies across all sectors.

About Holmes Place

Holmes Place facilities vary from club to club, but typically offer mixed and ladies only gyms, swimming pools (some Ozone treated), a huge range of classes including yoga, Pilates, studio based cycling, Body Pump, plus aqua and great childcare facilities. All clubs provide the very latest exercise equipment, helpful and highly qualified gym staff (a gym induction is included in the price) and, in most instances, car parking.